International Activities at the Center for Partnerships for Educational Reform

By Dr. Jody Dunlap and Dr. Justine Su, Department of ELPS

During the 2019 Spring Semester, with support from the Dean’s Office, the Center for Partnerships for Educational Reform in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies hosted two large groups of educators from China for professional development programs. The Chinese education delegations were sponsored and sent to CSUN by Jiangsu-California International Education Center Inc. (JIESIE.USA) located in Pasadena, which represents the Provincial Department of Education in Jiangsu, one of the largest and most advanced education states in China.

The first group of 28 K-12 education leaders from Jiangsu elementary and secondary schools came to CSUN on Feb. 22 and attended multiple workshops by ELPS and education faculty on leadership, comparative education, standards and assessments, human resource and finance management, cultivation of creativity, teacher professional development and classroom management. The Center also arranged for the Chinese delegation to visit two of our local schools: Andasol Avenue Elementary School and Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, where the Chinese educators observed teaching in classrooms and engaged in interactive discussions with American teachers and administrators. The program was successfully completed on March 5.

Delegation presents a gift to COE Dean; Delegation members at the COE; CSUN workshop on creativity

ELPS and education faculty with Chinese educators at CSUN education workshops

Delegation visits to Vaughn Learning Center and Andasol Avenue Elementary School

The second Chinese delegation of 28 school and college administrators for vocational and community education came to CSUN on April 22 and attended one-week workshops by ELPS and other COE faculty on comparative education, leadership, finance and human resource management, adult education, community education, community college programs and pathways, and cultivation of creativity in American schools. The program also included visits to Vaughn Next Century Learning Center and Mission College, which provided eye-opening field experiences on American vocational and community education. The delegation members were deeply impressed by what they observe, especially when one of the student chefs in the Culinary Institute at Mission College who came out to greet them turned out to be from their hometown city of Wuxi.

Delegation gift to COE; Delegation gathers at COE; Delegation with COE Dean

ELPS faculty present education workshops to delegation members

Delegation visits to Vaughn Next Century Learning Center and Mission College

Through these and other educational exchange meetings and collaboration programs, the Center for Partnerships for Educational Reform at ELPS has established a cordial relationship with JIESIE.USA, not only in professional development programs but also in comparative education research as some of the Chinese educational leaders introduced by JIESIE.USA participated in the comparative study of school principals.  The Center also recommended several key administrators from our local schools to attend the U.S.-China Principal Forums in Los Angeles and in China in the past two years.  In addition, a group of faculty and students at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center led by Dr. Yvonne Chan were invited to visit China to participate in international exchange activities in Chinese schools in April this year, facilitated by JIESIE.USA.  On the most recent delegation visit to Mission College, the Chinese educators expressed strong interest in the various education programs, and Mission College President Monte Perez indicated his willingness to visit China in the near future to work with Chinese education institutions to develop both short-term and long-term collaboration programs that can benefit faculty and students both in the U.S. and China.

During the 2018-19 Academic Year, the Center for Partnerships for Educational Reform also hosted four long-term visiting scholars – Kan Liu (Shanghai), Linda Lu (Shanghai), Zhubao Ji (Qingdao), and Shuxian Li (Geneva), who have audited classes in education and served as guest speakers to American teacher candidates, participated in comparative education research projects, and provided valuable assistance to visiting Chinese educators.  The Center welcomed several Chinese delegations, including Shanghai Normal University College of Education Dean’s delegation, Gymboree Play and Music China Headquarter delegation, and Beijing Union University delegation and facilitated discussions of current and potential collaboration projects.

CSUN scholars attend Chinese holiday reception in L.A.; Education Dean Xia of SHNU visits CSUN

With support by the China grants at the Center for Partnerships for Educational Reform, Dr. Justine Su led Center’s efforts to develop and implement comparative education projects.  She has continued her critical evaluation and comparative analysis of John Dewey’s influence on Chinese education, which resulted in two major publications totaling 46,000 words in prominent Chinese education research journals in the past year.  She was also invited to deliver the prestigious 2019 Dewey Lecture at the Dewey Society Annual Conference in Toronto.  Dr. Su and Dr. Jody Dunlap also made good progress in the implementation of a joint comparative study of school principals in collaboration with Shanghai Normal University education scholars.  They have already gathered impressive data from several hundred urban and rural school principals and presented preliminary findings with Shanghai scholars at the 2019 Comparative and International Education Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  Dr. Su has been invited to make keynote speeches at several international conferences in China. She has also recommended other CSUN educators scholars to serve as keynote speakers at education conferences in China.

Furthermore, Dr. Su has served as a bridge for Dewey scholars in the U.S. and China, as she introduced American John Dewey Society President, Dr. AG Rud, to Dr. Zhaohui Chu, President of China’s Education Improvement Society, which is China’s equivalent to the American Dewey Society.  They have invited each other to international conferences and exchanged congratulation messages to the Dewey Conference/Forums in the U.S. and China this year to celebrate together the 100^th Anniversary of Dewey’s visit and lectures in China in 1919-1921. 

Dr. Su with other scholars at Dewey Conference in Toronto and CIES Conference in San Francisco